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The stage at Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center for the Arts this Sunday, October 13, 2019 evening is set with what appears to be an upright piano centered on a colorful rug. Various guitars are assembled stage right, whereas a Hammond B-3 organ and Wurlitzer electronic keyboard sit stage left. There are tables of varying heights with flickering candles strewn about the stage which add to the ’60s vibe where a sold-out crowd awaits the start of a rare Jersey Shore appearance by singer/songwriter Graham Nash.

Nash, 77 — a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award winner, and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee — is known internationally for his unique tenor voice. In the early 1960’s he co-founded the band, The Hollies, which had hits with tunes like “Just One Look,” and “Carrie Ann.” Introduced to musicians Stephen Stills and David Crosby by The Mamas and the Papas’ Cass Elliot, Nash left The Hollies in 1968 to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash — which subsequently became Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

As we wait for tonight’s show to begin, we chat with Kathy from Toms River who says, “I’ve seen Crosby, Stills and Nash a few times, and it’s a real treat to be able to see Graham Nash right here in my hometown.”

Recalling, “I was introduced to his music when I was a camp counsellor,” Kathy reveals, “My husband is a big fan, and it will be a new experience for us to see Graham Nash in a solo concert performance,” before concluding, “He’s a wonderful songwriter who’s written some amazing songs, and it will be interesting to hear any stories he has to tell tonight.”

The lights dim and Graham Nash takes the stage, raises his cup, and says in his endearing British accent, “Good evening and welcome. Thank you for coming! We’re going to be the best we can for you.”

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Nash — along with colleagues Shane Fontayne on guitar and Todd Caldwell on keyboards — begins tonight’s performance with a song he composed for Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “Pre-Road Downs.”

Opening with the classic CSN three-part harmony sound, Nash sings the famous “I have kissed you/So I’ll miss you/On the road I’ll be wantin’ you” lyric, his voice sounding as clear as ever before the trio sings in classic CSN three-part harmony on the “Don’t run the time approaches/Hotels and midnight coaches” chorus as Caldwell’s organ swirls and Fontayne’s twangy electric guitar brings cheers from the crowd.

Following avid applause, Nash launches into another CSN original, “Wasted on the Way.” His vocal soft and inspiring on this slow country rocker, Fontayne’s guitar work adds it’s own unique voice to Caldwell’s organ and Nash’s acoustic guitar accompaniment.

Nash introduces his next number, stating, “Before I came to live in America in 1968, I was in an English band called The Hollies.”

When an audience member shouts out “Bus Stop!” Nash turns to his colleagues and he and his musicians launch into their rendition of The Hollies’ 1966 Top 10 hit, “Bus Stop.”

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His clear tenor ringing out over the crowd as he sings “Bus stops, bus goes/She stays, love grows/Under my umbrella,” Fontayne’s electric guitar solo cries out as the story unfolds and the audience hoots and hollers.

Next up is a number from Nash’s 1971 debut studio solo album, Songs for Beginners, entitled “I Used to Be a King.”

As Nash sings “I used to be a King and everything around me turned to gold,” Fontayne effectively uses his guitar’s whammy bar to echo and fill the space between Graham’s vocal on this country waltz.

Following a bluesy and quavering Fontayne guitar solo which elicits applause from the crowd, the audience cheers for Nash when he vocalizes the line, “But I know all I have to do is sing for you all!”

“Thank you very much,” replies Nash before introducing keyboardist Todd Caldwell who, as he explains, was the organist for Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and then introduces guitarist Shayne Fontayne who played lead guitar with Sting, Paul Simon, and even local hero Bruce Springsteen.

Nash continues by recounting a story about Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young which took place in the 1970s.

Recalling, “We were in Canada and traveling back to the States, but immigration was not going to let me into the country — there was something wrong with my visa and I was delayed for hours,” adding, “By the time I got to my house I’d already written the song, ‘Immigration Man.’”

CSN-style harmonies ring out on this 1972 Top 40 hit by David Crosby and Graham Nash as Nash and Co. sing “Let me in/Let me in, immigration man/Can I cross the line and pray/I can stay another day” on this driving folk-rocker.

Fontayne plays a Stephen Stills-like guitar solo and Caldwell’s organ rolls and swirls under the guitarists who play facing one another to cheers and whistles.

“What an emotional rollercoaster this is for me to reintroduce myself to songs I wrote years ago and just yesterday,” says Nash, before adding, “This one first appeared on Songs for Beginners.”

With its soft acoustic guitar accompaniment, Nash’s voice is gentle and whispering on “Sleep Song,” a lovely lullaby in waltz tempo.

The crowd cheers and Nash takes a seat behind what is really an electronic keyboard designed to look like an upright piano.

Announcing, “This is a song we don’t get to do very often from the album with the three of us on it.”

Launching into a number from Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s 1977 recording, CSN, Nash sings and plays piano on “Carried Away.” In a waltz tempo with acoustic guitar, organ, and three-part harmony, Nash is featured on a harmonica solo on this wistful tune as Caldwell accompanies him playing bass using his organ pedals.

Following large applause, Nash switches over to acoustic guitar announcing, “This is a very beautiful Stephen Stills song.”

The audience cheers when they recognize the intro to Stills’ “4 + 20.”

Fontayne plays an eight-string bouzouki — a Greek instrument reminiscent of a mandolin — as Nash sings “Four and twenty years ago, I come into this life/The son of a woman and a man who lived in strife/He was tired of being poor/And he wasn’t into selling door to door/And he worked like the devil to do more.”

Telling the story through music and lyrics, the audience gets caught up in his presentation and responds with avid cheers and applause.

Nash sings with conviction and feeling on “Military Madness.” As he accompanies himself on his acoustic guitar, Fontayne plays a distorted Beatles’ “Revolution”-like electric guitar solo.

The crowd loudly claps as Nash sings the lyric, “Madness is killing my country,” and many join in singing “No more war” after Nash exclaims, “Let them hear you in Washington, especially the White House!”

Following audience applause and a standing ovation from some, Nash tells a story about being on an 80-foot boat off the coast of Nicaragua and seeing “a blue whale which was bigger than the boat,” recalling, “It was an astonishing sight and an astonishing moment that inspired me to write this song.”

Here, Nash performs an emotional rendition of a 1975 composition for Crosby and Nash entitled “Wind on the Water.” Nash plays the keyboard accompanied by electric guitar and organ on this environmental number. Fontayne’s guitar sounds like a whale’s cry as he and Nash sing harmony on the song’s “Now you are washed up on the shoreline/I can see your body lie/It’s a shame you have to die/To put the shadow on our eye” lyric.

The audience loudly applauds at the end of the number, where the stage darkens to show only candles glowing.

To conclude Act I, Nash and Co. present their interpretation of John Lennon’s composition for The Beatles, “A Day in the Life.” With only acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and organ, the fearless trio performs the entire piece, the song building by the end as Fontayne’s slide guitar plays the part of an entire orchestra and the band ends with the very famous long final chord.

During intermission, we chat with several members of the audience who share their thoughts with us on tonight’s concert thus far.

Comments Bill from Loveladies, “Graham Nash’s performance is a wonderful cultural connection to our own personal journey. I’ve listened to his recordings, so I recognize and identify with his songs, and to have a personal connection with them is wonderful.”

Noting, “What goes around, comes around — whether it’s ‘Immigration Man’ or ‘Military Madness’ or ‘Wind on the Water,’” Bill acknowledges, “I was tearing up on ‘Wind on the Water’ — I’m an environmentalist, so it really hit home for me.”

Remarks Marc from Toms River, “I saw Graham Nash back in 1973 when I was in college. The songs he sings are very personal to him.”

Continuing, “He still sounds fantastic — he has a great voice and it has held up,” Marc notes, “Shane Fontayne and Todd Caldwell are great, too. When they did ‘A Day In the Life,’ I started applauding when Shane Fontayne reproduced all of the orchestral sounds on his electric guitar.”

Concluding, “Graham Nash’s own songs are timeless — they sound as good as they did back in the early 1970s — Marc exclaims, “I just hope he does ‘Teach Your Children’ and ‘Chicago’ tonight, too!”

The crowd cheers as Nash, Fontayne, and Caldwell return to the stage for Act II.

Nash addresses the audience saying, ‘In the mid ’60s, I took a train from Casablanca to Marrakesh. I was in first class, with the blue-haired ladies — which was boring — so I want down to third class — and that’s where they were cooking; there were ducks and pig and chickens running around, and that’s where ‘Marrakesh Express’ was born.”

Here, Nash and Co. perform “Marrakesh Express” where Nash slows down the tempo slightly from the original Crosby, Stills and Nash recording and Shane Fontayne impresses as he picks high on the electric guitar, echoing the work of Stephen Stills.

Moving back to the keyboard, Nash explains, “This song was written the morning Joni and I broke up.”

With its straightforward melody, Nash’s heartfelt vocal on “Simple Man” tells a story on this beautiful and truthful song about the end of his relationship with singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell.

Singing “I just want to hold you/I don’t want to hold you down/But I can’t make it alone,” his harmonica fills in the empty space between his vocals.

Following large applause, Nash says, “Here’s a song from the 4 Way Street live album.”

Audience members applaud for the guitar intro to “Right Between the Eyes.” His voice silvery and accompanied by simple strumming, Nash croons “A man’s a man who looks a man right between the eyes.”

Caldwell’s organ solo features a swirling tremolo which rains down over the audience bringing applause.

Then, Nash watches Fontayne as he solos, before freely vocalizing at the end, the song’s final chord ringing out with solace.

Announcing, “This song is about Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,” Nash performs “Taken At All.” With haunting three-part harmonies and a finger-picked accompaniment, the group sings “We lost it on the highway/Down the dotted line/You were going your way/I was going mine.”

Nash reveals, “I wrote this next song for Stephen Stills when he was going through some problems with Judy Collins.”

Here, he performs another number from Songs for Beginners, “Wounded Bird.” Nash and Fontayne start off singing and playing this folk-rocker accompanied by bouzouki and acoustic guitar before Caldwell joins them and all three vocalize the last verse in three-part harmony around a single microphone crooning “A hobo or a poet must kill dragons for a bride/And humble pie is always hard to swallow/With your pride.”

Nash and Co. impress with a song from Nash’s most recent recording, This Path Tonight. Entitled “Golden Days,” the song describes Nash’s early days with The Hollies and features Nash on acoustic guitar and harmonica, Caldwell on organ, and Fontayne on acoustic guitar in a stunning performance filled with an understated vibe.

The crowd hoots and hollers when Nash invites the audience to join in singing Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With.” On this upbeat rendition, Caldwell plays a screaming organ solo with vibrato after the audience claps and sings along on the well-known “And there’s a rose in a fisted glove/And the eagle flies with the dove/And if you can’t be with the one you love, honey/Love the one you’re with” chorus.

Nash regales the audience with a story about how — as he was getting ready to leave Hawaii — he was challenged to write a song “just before you go.”

Here, he performs a number from 1977’s CSN album, “Just a Song Before I Go.” His vocal never sounding better, Nash sings “Just a song before I go/To whom it may concern/Traveling twice the speed of sound/It’s easy to get burned” as Caldwell accompanies him on the Wurlitzer electric piano and Fontayne plays a bluesy electric solo.

The crowd whistles and cheers and Nash goes to the piano for one of the highlight numbers of the evening, a performance of his stunning composition, “Cathedral.”

As a single spotlight shines down on Nash at the piano while he sings, images of stained glass cathedral windows appear behind him, adding to the ethereal effect as the song builds and the tempo quickens.

Fontayne’s slide guitar wails and lights flash illuminating the trio on this powerful and mystical performance which ends with the lights darkening and leaving only candles to illuminate the stage.

Nash talks about appearing at Joni Mitchell’s recent 75th birthday concert and relays the message, “I have good news — Joni Mitchell is on her way back. Help me sing this for her please.”

Here, Nash performs a song he wrote about their home together, 1977’s “Our House,” where he and the crowd sing together on the famous “Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard/Life used to be so hard/Now everything is easy ’cause of you” chorus.

At the conclusion, the audience stands and applauds as Nash says, “Thank you for coming to see us.”

Following enthusiastic whistles and applause, Nash and Co. perform an encore of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” with all three singers vocalizing on a single microphone to a sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment provided by Shane Fontayne.

Following this beautiful and touching performance, audience members signal they want more, so Nash grabs his guitar and exclaims, “Let’s do this for every single teacher in the world — come on Toms River!”

Here, the crowd happily joins in singing “Teach Your Children” as the lyrics ring out throughout the Grunin Center auditorium, “Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry/So just look at them and sigh/And know they love you.”

On their feet, the audience hoots and hollers as Fontayne and Caldwell take a bow and Nash asks, “One more?”

The crowd cheers as Nash takes a seat at the piano and plays the introduction to his 1971 solo Top 40 hit, “Chicago,” also recorded by CSNY on the group’s live 4 Way Street album.

Audience members earnestly clap and sing along on the “We can change the world/Rearrange the world” lyric as the song builds and the audience explodes at the conclusion, after which Nash says, “Thank you! We wish you peace.”

As the the crowd begins to filter out of the auditorium, we take a moment to chat with guitarist Shane Fontayne and keyboardist Todd Caldwell who are busily chatting with fans after the show.

Whereas Fontayne reveals, “We’re so happy to be here,” Caldwell declares, “We had a blast playing for you guys!”

We also chat with several members of the audience who share their opinions of Graham Nash’s performance this evening.

Says Angie from Seaside Park, “Graham Nash and his band were great — powerful, moving — really inspirational!” Noting, “They brought back so many good memories,” Angie acknowledges, “It’s always good to go back to the past every now and then.”

George from Seaside Park agrees commenting, “He’s one great artist,” and adding, “There’s a lot of love there!”

Joanne from Toms River calls Graham Nash “One very gracious performer,” remarking, “He really wanted to please the audience” and Joan from Brick calls Nash’s performance “Fantastic” declaring, “It’s amazing how relevant his music is today.”

Lastly, we chat with Claire from Toms River who calls tonight’s performance “Awesome and wonderful,” before concluding, “For me, it was just mind-blowing!”

To learn more about Graham Nash, please go to grahamnash.com. For information on upcoming performances at Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center for the Arts — including An Evening with Cowboy Junkies on November 7 and Max Weinberg’s Jukebox on November 22, — please go to grunincenter.org.